Friday, June 22, 2012

There is solid evidence for the fact that when women speak more than 30 percent of the time, men perceive them as dominating the conversation; well, similarly, if, say, two women in a row get one of the big annual literary awards, masculine voices start talking about feminist cabals, political correctness, and the decline of fairness in judging. The 30 percent rule is really powerful. If more than one woman out of four or five won the Pulitzer, the PEN/Faulkner, the Booker—if more than one woman in ten were to win the Nobel literature prize—the ensuing masculine furore would devalue and might destroy the prize. Apparently, literary guys can only compete with each other. Put on a genuine equal competitive footing with women, they get hysterical. They just have to have their voices heard 70 percent of the time. —Ursula Le Guin The Wave in the Mind (Off the Page: Loud Cows; pages 119-120).

Cost: I'm assuming you've got a computer with internet connection, so the only other costs to start up your podcast are a headset with microphone (about $30) and the Pamela software (also about $30), if you want to record multiple voice conversations. Depending on how much your headset costs, you'll spend $55-$70 total to start your podcast. Everything else is FREE.

Record & Edit:

Audacity: In addition to recording,
you can also cut sections out, amplify sound, have multiple tracks that
fade in and out of each other, remove noise, etc.

Skype: Allows you to interview long-distance for free, as long as you both
have a Skype account. You can have regular two-person conversations
or whole groups.

Pamela ($32.41): Allows you to easily record panels from Skype. They
have a free version, but it only allows you to record for 15 minutes at a
time. I recommend the Professional version, which also gives you a free
trial so you can see if you like it.

Levelator: Equalizes the "loudness" of each voice in a conversation. Great for interviews and panel discussions.

Royalty Free Music:

Kevin MacLeod: He puts his music in genre
groups and allows for free use and modification as long as you attribute.

There are so many women from all over the world, both in and out of Mormonism who listen to this podcast. Each of you has much to share. Every week I get emails from you, telling me about your life journeys, about your pain and triumphs, about how one of the episodes on the podcast helped you or validated you. Many of you have sent me ideas for podcasts, too. Because, really, for women’s issues in religion, there is endless territory to cover. In these episodes I’ve done, I haven’t even scratched the surface.

There is so, so much still to be spoken. I want to hear your voices. I want to hear your stories. And there is more out there than I could ever cover. I’ve known this time was coming, and now it’s finally here.

It’s time for me to move on from this podcast. It's time for me to turn my heart energies elsewhere. It’s time for me to pass the torch to you.

In the final episode, I’ll give you a tutorial about how to create a podcast.

About a year ago, I recorded a piece about the pain I feel from being raised under patriarchy. I never had the courage to post it because it felt so vulnerable. It wasn't until a friend of mine expressed her pain at awakening to the crushing weight of patriarchy that I revisited that recording and shared it with her. Together, we decided to create a series about the pain of patriarchy, as this is an experience that is common to many women in the church. This episode contains my original recording.

In the following episodes for this series, you will hear the voices of Amelia, Courtney, Sara, Tiffany, and Katrina. Each of these women gives a different perspective and voice to her journey.

Below, you can also hear an added male perspective from Gail.

The Pain of Patriarchy: "The Men Give the Equality to the Women" — Gail